Fish Island Village: selling and remortgaging guide

Start here

Do these three things on day one

Then work out which route you are on

Selling: step by step

Residents who completed sales in 2025 and 2026 reported around 5 months from accepted offer to completion, with most of the delay on Peabody's side. Plan for that.

1. Before you list: request the Peabody documents

   Email Homeownership Approvals asking for (a) a Landlord Certificate, enclosing your signed Leaseholder Deed of Certificate, and (b) a management pack (LPE1). Attach the signed Third Party Consent Form naming your conveyancer once you have one. Put your full address and any reference in the subject line.

   Peabody replies with payment details for the pack and a reference. Pay, then reply with proof of payment and the consent form. The 30 working day clock starts from then.

   You → Peabody Homeownership Approvals£300 pack; certificate free30 working days each, often longer

2. Gather the building documents yourself

   Download what you can from My Peabody (service charge and ground rent statements, Building Safety Record). Collect your block's EWS1 form and its covering letter, the latest FRA, and the current buildings insurance summary. Many are in the shared documents library below. If yours is missing, ask Fire Remediation.

   You, neighbours, Peabody Fire RemediationDays if shared, weeks if requested

3. Find your original purchase pack

   Buyers' solicitors routinely ask for documents you should have received when you bought: NHBC Buildmark certificate, EPC, electrical installation certificate, lease, title register, Building Regulations final certificate. Your original conveyancer may still hold copies. NHBC will supply a lost Buildmark certificate directly.

   You, original conveyancer, NHBC

4. Choose a conveyancer who knows high-rise leasehold

   Ask up front whether they have recent experience of Building Safety Act 2022 cases. Some firms refuse BSA work or charge extra for it. Confirm the full fee including any BSA or "high-rise" supplement.

   YouRoughly £1,200 to £2,000 all in

5. Choose an estate agent and list

   Residents reported fees of 1.5% to 2.4% inc VAT, with 1.5% achievable. An agent who has sold at FIV before will know the paperwork questions. The market in 2025 to 2026 has been slow, with some flats listed for over a year.

   YouAgent fee 1.5% to 2%

6. Accept an offer and instruct your conveyancer

   Send your conveyancer everything gathered so far. Make sure Peabody has their consent form. If you have a Help to Buy loan, start the Help to Buy redemption now in parallel, as the RICS valuation clock is short.

   You → conveyancer

7. Answer the buyer's enquiries in one batch

   Expect questions on Building Safety Act, fire safety, S106, CIL, heating, utility agreements and insurance. See common buyer enquiries for answers residents have used. Ask your conveyancer to send all questions to Peabody in one go: Peabody quotes 5 to 10 working days per round, and each new round restarts the wait.

   Your conveyancer ↔ Peabody; you supply what you holdWeeks per round

8. Watch your buyer's lender

   The buyer's lender decides what fire safety evidence it accepts. Some accept the expired EWS1 plus Landlord Certificate; some also want the EWS1 covering letter, a letter of comfort, or a recent FRA; Nationwide has been the strictest. Find out early which lender your buyer is using. See lender notes.

9. Exchange and complete

   After completion, the buyer's solicitor deals with registering the purchase. The title has a restriction that needs a Peabody certificate of compliance. Residents waited 5 to 10 months for this after completion, so ask your conveyancer to request it immediately.

   Conveyancers ↔ Peabody

10. Hand over utilities

    Complete Insite's "Moving out" form; the buyer completes "Moving in". Insite told residents the transfer takes 5 to 21 days. Pass your management pack contacts and building documents to the buyer.

Remortgaging: step by step

Route A: product switch with your current lender

1. Ask your lender or broker for retention offers

   Do this 3 to 6 months before your fixed rate ends. Many lenders show offers in their online portal.

2. Accept online

   Usually a few clicks or e-signatures. Residents did not need to tell Peabody (this applies to full leaseholders; shared owners should check, see shared ownership).

Route B: moving to a new lender

1. Six months before your fixed rate ends, start the Peabody documents

   Request the Landlord Certificate now (free, per flat). Decide with your broker whether you will need a management pack: one resident completed a remortgage without it, others were asked for it. If in doubt, order it.

   You → Homeownership Approvals6 weeks to 6 months

2. Build your fire safety file

   Residents recommend having all of these on file before you apply, even if your lender only asks for some:

   • Your block's EWS1 form (even if expired) with the MLM covering letter
   • A Peabody letter of comfort for your flat (confirms qualifying leaseholders will not be charged for cladding works and answers standard lender questions)
   • Your Landlord Certificate
   • The latest FRA for your block
   • The Building Safety Record (My Peabody)
   • Current buildings insurance summary
   Neighbours, Fire Remediation, My Peabody

3. Check the lender before you apply

   Ask the broker, in writing, whether the lender will accept an EWS1 over 5 years old together with a Landlord Certificate. If the answer is "in-date EWS1 or a PAS 9980 FRAEW only", stop: Peabody has said it will not commission an FRAEW for FIV blocks, and there is no in-date EWS1. See lender notes.

   You, broker

4. Apply and get a mortgage offer

   Residents with cooperative lenders had offers in about a week, needing only the EWS1 and payslips. Expect the lender's surveyor to note "high-rise" and possibly ask further fire safety questions.

5. Instruct a conveyancer (or use the lender's)

   Some lenders insist on their own panel solicitor. Confirm the fee: one resident's quote rose by £499 + VAT because the building is over 5 floors.

   About £500 to £700, more with BSA work

6. Deal with lender questions

   Answer what you can from the Building Safety Record and FRA. Questions only Peabody can answer go through your conveyancer. Residents waited a month or more for Peabody to reply on Building Safety Act points. Lenders may also ask for indemnity insurance against ground rent rises (one resident paid about £100).

7. Complete

   If you have Help to Buy, completion is tied to the Help to Buy authority to complete. See below.

Help to Buy equity loan: redemption step by step

This applies whether you pay off the loan by remortgaging, with savings, or from a sale. Help to Buy (Homes England) runs its own process alongside Peabody, your lender and your conveyancer. Residents found the Help to Buy staff helpful; the pressure comes from the valuation expiry dates. Help to Buy advised one resident to staircase and remortgage in one combined process rather than two.

1. Get your Peabody documents moving first

   Request the Landlord Certificate (and management pack if selling or your lender needs it) before you book the valuation, so the valuation does not expire while you wait for Peabody.

2. Book a RICS valuation

   If your Help to Buy loan started from 2021 onwards, the surveyor must be MRICS or FRICS. Some firms cannot do valuations for these later loans, so check before booking. Residents reported fees of around £275, with a desktop extension around £100 (some firms include it).

   You → RICS surveyor~£275 + ~£100 desktopValid 3 months

3. Complete the repayment application form

   Use the Help to Buy repayment application form. All account holders' details, solicitor details in section 9, and wet signatures (print, sign, scan, or a photo of the wet signature). Submit all pages as one PDF. Electronic or stored signatures have been rejected, sometimes months later.

   Question 6 (cladding): if you answer yes, Help to Buy needs your block's EWS1. If no EWS1 is available or it is out of date, they will ask for a letter from the building manager explaining why. Residents have had Help to Buy accept the expired EWS1 together with the Landlord Certificate and/or a Peabody letter of comfort.

   You → Help to BuyAbout 10 working days to approve

4. Provide your source of funds

   • Remortgage: the full new mortgage offer as one PDF
   • Savings: latest month's bank statement plus a solicitor's letter on source of funds
   • Gift or inheritance: giver's statement and a solicitor's gifted deposit or inheritance letter
   • Sale: memorandum of sale from the agent on letterhead (or a solicitor's private sale agreement plus an arm's length letter)

5. Pay the £200 admin fee

   Once the form, funds and RICS report are approved, pay by phone (UK debit card), bank transfer or the payment link Help to Buy sends. They then send an indicative quote and legal pack to your solicitor.

   £200

6. Your solicitor takes over

   The solicitor completes Help to Buy's letter of undertaking template (only the highlighted sections may be changed) and sends it at least 15 days before completion. Help to Buy then issues the authority to complete with the final figure. If the completion date is missed, a new letter of undertaking, and possibly a new valuation, is needed.

7. Completion and charge removal

   The solicitor pays the amount, sends a DS1 form (and a certified completion statement if you sold), and checks the Help to Buy charge is lodged for removal at Land Registry within 20 days. You receive a redemption completion letter.

Help to Buy guidance: repaying when you sell · manage your equity loan. Help to Buy loans cannot be held on a let property.

Shared ownership: what is different

• Peabody must approve a new mortgage when you remortgage. Under a shared ownership lease Peabody owes extra obligations to the lender only if it has approved the mortgage, so lenders insist on it. Residents waited from 6 weeks to over 5 months for approval. Peabody charges a small fee (residents quoted £175 to £250; one had it waived after a complaint).
• Staircasing (buying more shares) goes through Peabody. One resident used a Peabody-recommended solicitor for this and found them good.
• Resales of shared ownership flats involve the Peabody post-sales team (postsales@peabody.org.uk).
• The Leaseholder Deed of Certificate needs extra evidence for shared ownership: a copy of the shared ownership lease and evidence of your share on 14 February 2022.
• Some buyers' solicitors ask for a letter confirming a flat is 100% leasehold and not shared ownership, because the Land Registry wording is unclear. Ask Homeownership Approvals.

Master document checklist

Every document residents were asked for, who can supply it, and whether it is per flat or per building. Filter by what you are doing.

No documents match that search.

Shared documents library

Documents residents shared in the group, deduplicated and renamed. Building documents only apply to the block named. Always check the date and ask Peabody if a newer version exists. Personal documents (letters of comfort, certificates naming a resident) are not included; request your own.

FIV planning permission is LLDC reference 12/00210/OUT (Neptune Wharf). A "Monier Road" consent shared in the group relates to a different application (13/00204/FUM) and is not included.

Contacts

Peabody contacts as shared in the group. Staff move on, so if an email bounces, use the team mailbox.

Lender notes

There is no legal requirement for an EWS1. Each lender sets its own rules and they change often. Peabody's position is that a Landlord Certificate replaces the need for an EWS1 for lenders signed up to the industry approach (Peabody EWS1 page, gov.uk FAQ). Residents' experiences:

Common buyer and lender enquiries, and answers that worked

Chasing Peabody: what worked

1. Ask for a CAS case number on first contact

   One per leaseholder case, quoted on every email. Needed if you escalate to the ombudsman.

2. Get a named handler

   Once someone picks up your case, use their name and direct extension every time. Residents found named staff responsive.

3. Call, do not just email

   Weekly, then daily once past the SLA. Be prepared for long holds. Stay polite; the coordinators often have to chase other teams themselves.

4. Remember SLAs are working days

   30 working days is about 6 weeks.

5. Make a formal complaint once the SLA is breached

   Repeatedly reported as the step that moved things. Log your costs (extra interest, repeat valuations) for compensation.

6. Copy in the CEO

   Several residents received responses within a day or two.

7. Escalate locally

   Speak to Selorm in person at concierge, and tell the residents' association so issues can be raised at their regular meetings with Peabody.

Costs and timings at a glance

Providers residents mentioned

Listed because residents reported good experiences with them in the group. Not endorsements; get your own quotes. Residents also reported poor experiences with some conveyancers, so ask in the group before instructing.

Glossary